Network services are typically employed in a networked computing environment. They may, for example, be installed on one or more servers or other network nodes. They may provide, for example, shared resources to client computers. Examples of network services include DNS (Domain Name System), DHCP (Dynamic Host Control Protocol), e-mail, printing, network file sharing, authentication servers, directory services, monitoring services, and the like. It is desirable that network services be tolerant of faults in the network.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,328,363 discloses dynamically configurable fault tolerance in autonomic computing with multiple service points. In particular, a method is described for configuring a system having a plurality of processors to provide the system with at least one cluster of processors, where each cluster has one service point. A distance is computed from each processor to other processors in the system. A plurality of total distances is then computed, where each total distance is associated with one processor. A minimum total distance is determined from the plurality of total distances. One processor is assigned to be the service point; this processor is the processor having the minimum total distance associated therewith.